Not-So-Good Friday: Easter's Permission to Feel

Unshaken Saints

Jared Halverson

Education, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Theology calls it "Good Friday," but for the disciples standing at the foot of the cross, it was anything but good. It was horrific, silent, and seemingly final. If you are in a season where your life feels like a "Mourning Friday," this episode is for you. Summary: In this special study on the Passion of Jesus Christ, we explore why we must endure the "Not-So-Good" moments of Friday to truly appreciate the victory of Sunday. We dive into the "Stations of the Cross" and the necessity of honest lamentation in the life of a believer. The Theology of "Good": We discuss how a day of horrific suffering became "salvifically good," crushing the head of the serpent even as he bruised the heel of the Savior. Permission to Lament: We look at the "canonized permission to feel" found in the Old Testament and why suppressing emotion leads to spiritual alienation. The German "Karfreitag": We explore the concept of "Sorrowful Friday" and how acknowledging the "sting of death" isn't a lack of faith—it's evidence of the human condition. Joy vs. Saccharine: We prove the contraries of Joy and Sorrow, showing how sorrow keeps our joy from becoming superficial or "saccharine sweet". The Gift of a Broken Heart: We conclude with the idea that a broken heart isn't a pathology to be fixed, but a state of permeability—cracks that finally allow the Light to get in. Call-to-Action: Are you trying to rush toward Sunday morning because Friday is too painful to sit in? How has a "broken heart" allowed you to feel the Savior's love more deeply? Let’s share our "Not-So-Good Friday" experiences in the comments. To stay "Unshaken" even when the world is dark, please like, subscribe, and share this video.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, my friends, this is Unshaken, and it is a thrill to be here with you today.
0:04.0	It is the beautiful springtime. It is Easter season. Some of you might be watching this during Lent, some of you during Holy Week, some of you during Easter Sunday.
0:13.0	And hold on for this one, but I'm going to do my best not to wish you a happy Easter. That's going to be a temptation that I'm going to try to resist. I am feeling that I'm going to do my best not to wish you a happy Easter.
0:21.6	That's going to be a temptation that I'm going to try to resist.
0:24.6	I am feeling the motivation to rejoice in this day of resurrection with you.
0:30.6	But that's not my goal today, okay?
0:33.6	I'm going to try to do something a little bit different.
0:35.6	In fact, I've felt compelled to do something a little bit different. In fact, I've felt compelled to
0:38.5	to wrestle with this concept with you. I was sorely tempted to not film a new Easter lesson this
0:45.4	year and recycle and reuse. Easter's the time of giving new life to dead things, right? And so take
0:51.5	an old video and give it a new life and repost it and celebrate
0:55.7	Easter that way. And yet I have really felt, again, pressed upon that this is a message that I
1:02.1	needed to share. So I hope that it's one that will bless you. Not only this Easter season,
1:06.8	but any time you are having a season where you don't feel like saying happy anything,
1:13.6	okay, even if it's happy Easter.
1:15.6	What I want to wrestle with is a concept, well, let me throw it out there, a phrase that I think once we hear it,
1:22.6	we start bracing ourselves for something difficult.
1:25.6	The phrase is blessing in disguise. Has anybody ever
1:29.9	prepped you for something and said, believe me, but when all is said and done, you're going to
1:33.4	look back at this and this is going to be a blessing in disguise. And this is going to be something,
1:38.5	isn't it? I wonder how bad the disguise will be. In fact, is this blessing so disguised that it is completely unrecognizable
1:46.4	as far as a blessing is concerned? As I was brainstorming this concept, like different ideas
	...

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